This race starts in a Western town movie set at Santa Clarita Melody Ranch. The teams arrive by stage coach and are:

Chester & Ephraim, former NFL team mates from Houston, Texas

Rowan & Shane, theater performers from Charlotte, North Carolina

Tim & Marie, exes from Morristown, New Jersey

Leo & Jamal, cousins from southern California. Call themselves the Afghanimals since they are Afghan by birth

Ally & Ashley, NHL ice-crew teammates from Long Beach, California

Nicole & Travis, married ER-physicians from Atlanta, Georgia

Hoskote & Naina, father and daughter from Laguna nical, California

Tim & Danny, oil plant workers from Cordell, Oklahoma

Brandon & Adam, childhood friends from Chico, California

Nicky & Kim, major league baseball wives from the midwest

Jason & Amy, dating from New England

Choice quotes: "I don't feel threatened by it. Your opinion is usually a waste of time" Marie sets the tone of their relationship

In his starting line spiel Phil mentions that the winners of this leg will get an express pass. Plus a second express pass which they must give to another team before the end of the 5th leg. The start probably happens around 08:35.

The first clue is only a phone call away. That is teams must run to their cars and call a specified number from the voice-activated in-car phone. They are given a sheet of instructions which reads:

Quote

{BLURRED OUT NUMBER}* Locate the VOICE button on the right side of the steering wheel* Pull the VOICE button towards you.* You'll hear a tone and this prompt, "SYNC. Please say a command."* Say "DIAL NUMBER".* When prompted, say the number at the top of this sheet. For the Plus... "PLUS", then the rest of the number. Be sure to speak clearly.* The car will repeat the number to you.* When prompted say "DIAL".* Since this is an international... through....

When connected they heard a message: "Hola, you are now heading to Iquique. Drive yourselves to the Los Angeles international airport. There are only seats for a limited number of teams on the first flight. Don't get left behind.".

Teams must now drive themselves to the Los Angeles airport (62km 0:45).

"I didn't know they made people's voices as shrill as yours", Tim starts bickering with Marie "I didn't know they make them as dumb as you", and Marie shoots back

I have a feeling it will quickly grow pretty tedious to listen to these two so I won't quote any more of their bickering, unless somebody gets really creative.

Tim & Danny have trouble finding their way and the lady they ask for directions doesn't speak English. Flapping their arms like birds surprisingly fails to elicit clear directions to the airport.

The location is stunning on a high ridge with a view out over the city and the ocean behind it. This first clue is a road block.

Quote

ROAD BLOCK

Who's' good at follow theleader?

The clue inside the envelope reads:

Quote

ROAD BLOCK

Find your partner! Theywill be paragliding to oneof Iquique's Beachesand they will have to be"Brave" to get there.Meet them at the beachto receive your next clue.

The second batch of teams get a different clue:

Quote

BLOCK

Find your partner!They will be paraglidingto Huayquique Beach.Meet them there toreceive your next clue.

This is a tricky roadblock clue. Everybody has realized that there will be some paragliding when they arrive, but it is the team member who does NOT perform the road block who will go paragliding. The task is to follow them in a taxi. This is basically a way for the producers to get the most scared contestants to do the paragliding.

The clue also contains a hint as to which beach they are headed. The beach is named "Brava" which translates as "Brave", which in turn is in the clue. The second batch of teams go to a different beach, but they get a different clue.

The only contestant having a problem with this is Brandon who miss-understood his instructor and they therefore fail to take off on their first attempt. Kim is very scared but she performs the flight without much, shown, hesitation.

"I wanted to jump off the cliff", Ephraim feel cheated "I'm so scared", Kim is scared as they realize what the task will be while still riding their taxi "It's like hitting me right now", Kim is scared when she realize she must jump off the cliff "Look mom, no hands", Chester demonstrates flying "Paragliding was an unbelievable experience. We're not in Oklahoma no more", Tim gets the title

Here we learn that Nicole speaks fluent Spanish. Which helps when communicating with the taxi driver. We also learn that some teams make the rookie mistake of releasing their taxis. Namely Jamal, Ashley, Marie and Nicky. Jamal borrows a phone and order taxis for himself and Ashley. Then they all run along the road to catch the taxis as soon as possible. In the end it is Marie who jumps into Jamal's taxi.

"I don't want Marie to get in there, because she's annoying', Jamal see that Marie has stopped "his" taxi further down the road "What happened here was straight out robbery", Jamal as Marie leave in the taxi

Teams reunite at the beach in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock, i.e. who traveled by taxi)

Road block: "Who's got both oars in the water?". In this road block team members must choose a heavy rowing boat and explore the harbor. They must collect 5 fish from any of three named fishing boats ("Scarleth", "Dona Hilda", "San Francisco"). Each fishing boat has a limited number of fish to give out.

The clue also states "If you paraglided while your partner searched in the first road block, you must perform this road block". The extra information also states that teams must travel on foot to the next pit stop.

Leo & Jamal misread the clue and Jamal jumps into the boat. The girls eventually point this out to Leo who recalls Jamal and switches places.

Hoskote & Naina are pretty sure they will be eliminated since the other teams are finishing up as they arrive. They read the clue correctly but even so they decide that Naina should do this challenge. This is so that she at least gets to do something. But rowing the boat is too heavy for her and after a while they switch (around 17:32).

Choice quotes: "I'm a little nervous since there are a lot of boats out there", Nicole does not want to lose their lead "We let girls beat us", Jamal is not happy with their standing "I've never rowed a boat before", Tim is having troubles "I know that even if I mess up he's gonna be proud of me", Brandon trusts Adam

Teams complete this road in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)

Nicole & Travis*

(1-1)

2(+2)

Tim* & Marie

(1-1)

3(+0)

Rowan* & Shane

(1-1)

?(+?)

Chester* & Ephraim

(1-1)

?(+?)

Nicky & Kim*

(1-1)

6(+1)

Ally* & Ashley

(1-1)

7(-5)

Leo* & Jamal

(1-1)

8(+2)

Jason* & Amy

(1-1)

9(-1)

Tim* & Danny

(1-1)

10(-1)

Brandon* & Adam

(1-1)

11(+0)

Hoskote* & Naina

(1-1)

after 18:30

The next clue is a picture of the municipal theater of Iquique. But is of course not labeled. Teams are now supposed to make their way there by foot (400m).

Nicole & Travis have already forgotten the information they got in the clue for this road block so they jump into a taxi.

Choice quotes: "Wait, wait wait", Nicole stops her husband from celebrating since she picked up that Phil only said they were the first team to arrive "This just proves it, it's all about yelling. Hello, it works", Marie, unfortunately, attributes the win to her yelling and nagging

Teams are released from the square in front of Teatro de Municipal in Iquique in the following order:

1.

Tim & Marie

02:52

2.

Nicole & Travis

03:02

(+0:10)

3.

Rowan & Shane

03:08

(+0:16)

4.

Chester & Ephraim

03:13

(+0:21)

5.

Nicky & Kim

03:14

(+0:22)

6.

Ally & Ashley

03:20

(+0:28)

7.

Leo & Jamal

04:00

(+1:08)

8.

Jason & Amy

05:17

(+2:21)

9.

Tim & Danny

05:28

(+2:36)

10.

Brandon & Adam

05:34

(+2:44)

Route info: "Make your way to the deck of the Museo Corbeta Esmeralda where the officer of the day will post your next clue". Teams receive $589 for this leg of the race. The Esmeralda is only about 700m from the pit start.

"Alright ladies, I bet it's closed", Chester & Ephraim wait for Nicky & Kim, and use their brains "You wanna run there?", Ephraim even has the energy to make jokes

We learn that Ally & Ashley are in an alliance with Leo & Jamal. The latter even call the girls their race wives.

Unsurprisingly when teams arrive at the Esmeralda they find that it is closed and opens again at 07:15. While teams wait Travis tells Tim & Marie that today is Nicole's 40th birthday. An express pass would be an awesome gift. But Marie ignores this hint.

"Let me instruct everybody about the rules", Marie Marie takes upon herself to organize the queue. She wants everybody to start again the next morning in the same order they arrived. Teams grudgingly oblige, for now. The start the next morning is however not as orderly as she had envisioned. Instead there is a mad dash to the entrance where Leo & Jamal jumps in from the side. People scurry around the boat like overenergized rabbits and eventually they all find a sign on the upper deck:

Quote

During the battle of Iquique in the war of the Pacific Chilean National Hero ARTURO PRAT uttered a famous phrase before the sinking of his ship the Esmeralda. Repeat the Phrase to the Officer, in Spanish to receive your next clue.

The ship is a museum and there are lots of signs with information. So teams start to run around some more to find the quote. Ally & Ashley is the first team to figure out the smart move to ask one of the nearby locals. Their Spanish is however lacking, Brandon & Adam have the same idea and arrive shortly thereafter. They interpret and learn that the captain said "Charge the ship, men!", and then get to hear it said in Spanish. Other teams see them coming back in a rush and realize what they have done so soon the poor local soon has a bunch of overexcited Americans asking him the same question.

"Tell me where it is, I have an express pass", Marie is determined to get the most out of her express pass

Route info: "Make your way to Minas del Salpunta de Lobos. And as you get close search for your next clue near the Irlanda 3 road sign".

Teams must now travel by taxi to this salt mine (87km 1:40). Actually theygo to a place near the mine, where they find their next clue box. Theyreach it in the following order: 1. Brandon & Adam 2. Ally & Ashley, a couple of seconds after #1 3. Leo & Jamal, a few minutes after #2 4. Nicole & Travis 5. Chester & Ephraim 6. Jason & Amy, within a few minutes of #4 7. Tim & Marie 8. Nicky & Kim 9. Tim & Danny, seconds after #8 10. Rowan & Shane, after #1 has left

Rowan & Shane have bad luck and a taxi driver who doesn't know the way. They have to stop and ask for directions. "Mucho gracias", Shane thanks the local who helped them "Just get in, you can mucho him later", Rowan wants to get moving

Quote

DETOUR

Detour: "Brining" or "Mining"

Brining: Add salt to a poolof fresh water until you canboth float well enough toread a newspaper to thesatisfaction of the miningengineer.

...

The catch with the brining is that they have to carry many heavy sacks of salt. And even though the clue doesn't say so most teams strips down to their swimsuits before they start carrying salt, barefoot.j

In mining teams must break open boulders of salt until they find one with a clue inside.

Both detours require teams to first ride bikes into the dessert to the actual salt mine (~3km).

"We do look good in bathing suits, but we're much better and quicker at smashing stuff", Adam "Think about it, we're heavy", Chester on why they should do mining "We were afraid that the NFL guys was going to pick up the rock and just break it over their knee", Brandon has respect for Chester & Ephraim "I don't wanna talk, You're using my air", Rowan find the riding hard "I'm just glad they're gone. I don't want to have to listen to them anymore", Ally is happy when Tim & Marie are approved

Nicole is have trouble with her bike. Eventually Travis, who rides bikes a lot more, switches bikes with her and he also pushes her along as well as he can.

Route info: Teams must now go back to Iquique and make a 1000 miles bus trip to Santiago. Once in Santiago they must make their way to Plaza de Armas and search for their next clue. The bus trip takes more than 24 hours.

Rowan & Shane arrive in the nick of time but think they have found a faster bus so they just pretend to board bus #2. Only after it has left do they learn that there is a miss understanding, the later bus isn't faster after all, instead it is even slower. But they learn about another bus which maybe leaves in about an hour which should arrive between 19 and 20.

Bus #3, departs at 15:00 and arrives at 19:03 carries: Rowan & Shane

On bus #2 it turns out that Tim (of Tim & Marie) knows Kim's husband. Marie then says that they like Nicky & Kim and that the have no problem with giving them the express pass.

"We want to take care of them because we can trust them", Tim on why they want to help Nicky & Kim "And we can beat them", Marie has a more pragmatic reason

ROAD BLOCKSearch the PaseoAhumada for one of themarked "Lustrabotas"stands and perform ashoeshine. After thecustomer pays for theirshine deliver the standand everything that goeswith it to Merced 738.

The easy part of this is the shoeshine (for all except Marie) since the customer is already waiting. The hard part is packing the stand and pushing it six blocks to the storage area. The stand must be packed correctly for them to receive their next clue. The Packing is hard and we get to see many stands open up and spill all their content as teams try to repack them. What is not shown is that multiple teams also drop stuff and when they can't find the missing things they have to buy replacements.

"It was hell", Amy had a hard time packing "I used to move furniture for a living", Danny has no problem pushing his stand

The really exciting part is when Rowan & Shane turn up as the four teams on bus #2 are still shining the shoes.

"My blood was boiling when I saw Bingo roll in", Marie is not happyMarie is having more problems because her customer is not satisfied. She makes another swipe with the brush and asks again, and he's still not happy. This repeats a few times and we get a feeling he is not happy with the way she is acting.

Rowan & Shane are really happy that they have caught up and they feel that they have a chance. But Rowan misses the part about a marked stand in the clue. Instead he finds a totally innocent and not involved shoe shiner where he takes over the customer, then packs up the stand and takes it to the storage shed. All while the local shoe shiner gets more and more confused and frustrated, the language barrier doesn't help.

Nicky forget her rug. And as she and Marie are talking to the judges Rowan rolls up.

"She's the devil", Rowan in Spanish to his shoe shiner pointing at Marie as she tells him no

"Can I please have the express pass please?", Nicky to Marie "I can't give it to you right now", Marie doesn't see any advantage to give to them right there

Meanwhile Rowan gets told that he has the wrong stand and he realize he have to go back and start over. "Very frustrating, I can tell you that", Rowan

As Rowan sits down at the correct stand we see Nicky run past behind him searching for her rug. "Oh rug, I hate you so much", Nicky finally find her rug

As Nicky exits the storage shed Rowan rolls up with the correct stand. So he is not far behind.

Teams complete this road in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+1)

Chester* & Ephraim

(2-1)

2(+2)

Leo* & Jamal

(2-1)

3(+0)

Brandon & Adam*

(1-2)

4(+1)

Nicole* & Travis

(2-1)

5(-4)

Jason & Amy*

(1-2)

6(+3)

Ally & Ashley*

(1-2)

7(-1)

Tim & Danny*

(1-2)

8(-1)

Tim & Marie*

(1-2)

9(-1)

Nicky* & Kim

(2-1)

10(+0)

Rowan* & Shane

(2-1)

Quote

ROUTE INFO

Maker your way toCajon del Maipo and findCascada de Las Animasin San Alfonso. Then zipover the ragingwhitewater...Maipo River and findPhil on the suspensionbridge.

Warning, the last teamto check in may beeliminated!

Teams must now make their way to Cascade de Las Animas (58km 1:32). Once here they must ride a zip line before finding Phil and the pit stop.

The zip line task is edited out of the episode. It was included in the previews so we know that at least some teams performed it. Probably only the five first teams performed it and then met Phil on a suspension bridge. It was dark when the final five teams arrived and the pit stop had moved to another location, so we assume those teams did not ride the zip line.

There is a tense race for first between Leo & Jamal and Chester & Ephraim. The Afghanimals manage to find a taxi first so they take the lead.

"I gotta get the money", Jamal needs to pay the driver "We can be the first team", While Leo is focusing forward

Unfortunately for the Afghanimals they don't satisfy their driver so Phil can't check them in and team NFL get to finish first.

When explaining what happened Leo & Jamal start bickering in earnest. "Are you my enemy or partner?", Jamal "Right now I'm your enemy", LeoThese two need to get their act together if they are going to stay in the race

Terrific recaps, MAF! I like your style and especially appreciate the completeness and detail. You point out details that I had missed on watching and even re-watching the episode.

One of these was the pitstop mat. I think though, watching Rowan and Shane approaching the mat, that it was simply moved off to one end of the bridge. Then, watching it again, it seems that they crossed the bridge in the same direction as the early teams did (you can tell because the "close" side has the sign). I was surprised at that, because I too would have readily assumed that the after-dark arrivals precluded ziplining.

Logged

We can put a man on the moon, so why can't we have a Fast Forward in every leg?

Teams are released from Cascada de Las Animas, close to where the pit stop was, in the following order:

1.

Chester & Ephraim

18:27

2.

Leo & Jamal

18:39

(+0:12)

3.

Brandon & Adam

18:58

(+0:31)

4.

Nicole & Travis

19:11

(+0:44)

5.

Jason & Amy

19:25

(+0:58)

6.

Tim & Danny

00:25

(+5:58)

7.

Ally & Ashley

00:27

(+6:00)

8.

Tim & Marie

00:33

(+6:06)

9.

Nicky & Kim

01:00

(+6:33)

Route info: "Fly to Lisbon. Portugal". When teams land they must make their way to Martim Moniz Square and ride a tram (line 28) to the top of the hill where they will receive their next clue.

Most teams go to the Cocha travel agency (60km 1:30), while Leo & Jamal and later Tim & Marie go directly to the airport (85km 2:00).

In the taxi we hear that Tim & Marie have a strategy of offering to give the extra express pass to teams who give them useful information. But they will not really give away the express pass.

Leo & Jamal quickly book a flight via London with arrival at 11 and decide to tell Ally & Ashley about this.

Meanwhile at the travel agencies teams are busy looking for possible connections. Nicole & Travis are smart and when they find a good connection they ask their agent to hold it for them while they continue searching. This and possibly the fact that Chester & Ephraims agent entered the wrong date, leads to them being the only team getting tickets on the first flight at the travel agency. "When we travel, we have four kids, when you see a seat available you'd better book em now before the flights are gone", Travis

Jason & Amy are delayed on their way to the travel agency when their cab rear-ends another car. "And that is the luck that we have with cab-drivers"", Amy

When they leave the agency Chester & Ephraim have tickets with arrival at noon. As does Brandon & Adam. At the airport Chester & Ephraim receive a call from their travel agent, who is feeling guilty about the wrong date thing. She has found a better flight for them. They will get in at 7 with two connections. "Any other time, we would never have two connecting flights", Chester "Sometimes you gotta roll the dice man", Ephraim

When Ally & Ashley arrive at the airport they have no idea on what to do. Luckily for them they run into Leo & Jamal who help them book the same tickets as they have through London. They all then debate whether to tell Tim & Danny as well. The idea is to have some sacrificial lambs in case of flight delays. Tim & Danny hesitate a bit but then they are in.

As Tim & Danny are getting their tickets Marie come up and ask if they have found anything better. They lie to her and say the haven't. "I have the express pass", Marie on why they shouldn't lie to her

Afterwards Danny is feeling bad for having lied and they almost crack and go tell Marie about their flight. They also realize why Leo & Jamal told them, sacrificial lambs, so they go and look for other flights, and they find one via Madrid with arrival at 10.

The booking agent who helped Chester & Ephraim also calls Brandon & Adam and tells them she had found tickets through Madrid for them. So they meet up with Tim & Danny.

Travis & Nicole are on the same flight to Sao Paulo as Tim & Marie, Nicky & Kim and Jason & Amy. They worry that the others will work some magic and get on the first flight to Lisbon.

In Bueno Aires Chester & Ephraim realize that their flight to Madrid is delayed and they will miss their connection. They scramble to find a better way and find a flight to Sao Paulo which would let them reunite with Tim & Marie on the late flight to Lisbon.

Meanwhile in Sao Paulo Jason & Amy, Tim & Marie and Nicky & Kim all make a mad rush to the next gate in order to be first on the standby list for the earlier flight, which Travis & Nicole already have tickets on. But the gate was not yet open so they camp out there. That is all except Nicky & Kim who go to the business lounge and get put on the standby list. This is a very smart move and when the gate opens the others are confused and upset that Nicky & Kim are at the top of the list. "But that's not possible to have done a while ago", Marie doesn't believe they could already be on the standby list "When we got here we figured it out", Kim doesn't say how they did it "That is it, you lied to me", Marie choose not to believe her "The express pass is not even an option. They pulled a stunt that I would pull and I wasn't expecting it from them", Marie does not like smart teamsIn the end Nicky & Kim and Jason & Amy get on the flight.

Chester & Ephraim have more bad luck and their flight to Sao Paulo is delayed so they miss the connection. They find a flight to London which was supposed to have already left but is severely delayed which they get tickets to.

So in the end teams seem to have traveled like this (most of the work on this list of flights was made by claude_24hrs):

It turns out that Chester & Ephraim take off from Sao Paulo about the same time as the first teams run out of the Lisbon airport. The teams in Lisbon run out and grab taxis in the following order: 1. Nicole & Travis 2. Jason & Amy 3. Nicky & Kim 4. Tim & Danny, about 3 hours after the first teams 5. Brandon & Adam, see above 6. Leo & Jamal, about 50 minutes after teams #4 & #5 7. Ally & Ashley, shares a cab with #6 8. Tim & Marie, about 2 hours after teams #6 & #7

"So this means we just left the bunnies, hopefully they don't use their bunny charm to stop this thing", Jason when Nicky & Kim don't make the tram

At the top of the hill teams easily find a singer in a red dress with a yellow flower in her hair. Teams reach her in the following order: 1(+1) Jason & Amy 2(-1) Nicole & Travis, a couple of seconds after #1 3(+0) Nicky & Kim 4(+0) Tim & Danny, wait around confusedly and then work with Brandon & Adam 5(+0) Brandon & Adam 6(+1) Ally & Ashley 7(-1) Leo & Jamal, a few seconds after #6 8(+0) Tim & Marie

The singer gives each team a painting of a coach. Teams must now figure out that this clue directs the to the National Coach Museum. This seems to be fairly easy to solve for the locals. Teams jump into taxis and reach the Coach Museum in approximately the same order. It can be noted that the teams carry this, relatively large, painting through the rest of the leg and all the way to the pit stop.

At the coach museum (9km 0:16) teams need to find the coach on the painting. It is by this coach they find their next clue in the following order: 1(+0) Jason & Amy 2(+0) Nicole & Travis, a couple of seconds after #1 3(+0) Nicky & Kim 4(+0) Tim & Danny 5(+0) Brandon & Adam 6(+1) Leo & Jamal 7(-1) Ally & Ashley, a couple of seconds after #6 8(+0) Tim & Marie

Detour: "Tiles or miles"

In tiles teams must assemble a life size puzzle. The pieces are ceramic tiles (mostly square) and must be placed on a board which can then be raised. The board seems to be somewhat sticky as well. This detour is performed at the Fabrica Sant'Ana (1.4km 0:03)

In miles teams teams must use a giant navigation instrument (dividers) to measure the total distance Magellan sailed to ten destinations. Once they are within 500 miles (the correct answer is 16 500) a dressed up actor will give them their next clue. The measurement is made on a giant map on the ground by the monument to the discoveries where the journey is marked. Teams also get a list of the different ports visited and the order, so all they need to do is measure the distance. The only difficulty is that they must realize that the world is round so they can walk from one end of the map to the next when measuring one leg. The dividers are picked up at the Jeronimos monastery (600,) and teams walk to the map (400m).

Jason & Amy and Nicole & Travis decide to work together. Later on Leo & Jamal work with Ally & Ashley.

"As you finish doing adding you guys can take a look around, it's beautiful", Travis takes time to check the surroundings "I had a brain fart at first, then he's like 'The world is round'", Tim "Here's the map, this is going to be easy guys, just easy", Leo "I've got this, we're gonna give you the answer", Jamal to Ally & Ashley "I have no idea what we are doing", Ally & Ashley "I'm gonna get it on the first try, I guarantee you", Jamal is sure of himself

Despite their brave words Leo & Jamal (and Ally & Ashley) fail miserably at the miles detour. They forget that the world is round so at the critical point they measure back round South America and Africa rather than just crossing the edge of the map to the other side. Their first guess is 31000 miles and the girls guess 53500. None of them are even close. "It's nautical miles. Nautical miles are not the same as regular miles", Jamal over-thinks the task

Both Ally & Ashley and Leo & Jamal decide to switch to tiles instead. While they are there Tim & Marie walks in. "We've been here for two hours so I don't know if you guys wanna do this", Jamal plays mind-games with Tim & Marie

Tim & Marie are having problems with their puzzle. They drop tiles which break and so on. They debate whether to use the express pass or not. "Are you actually doing anything?", Marie wonders if her partner is helping "Can you get out of the way", But she doesn't want any help

Here we get to see a bit from an interview with Tim & Marie where Marie first says that there will be situations on the race where she will let him take control. Then she snaps out of it and admits that she doesn't actually think that will happen. "When people watch this at home I would like them to think that I don't think you are that terrible a partner", MarieSo from this conversation we learn that: 1. Marie thinks that her partner is more or less worthless 2. She doesn't want the audience to know that she thinks so 3. You should not trust the editors with any secretsBut while she says all this Tim just laughs.

Anyway Tim & Marie resist the urge to use the express pass and finally manage to complete the tiles puzzle.

In this road block teams must put on a knight's suit of armor (heavy) and use a giant ballista to shoot an arrow at one of five shields 150ft away. Once they score a hit they will receive the hit shield which has their next clue on the back. There are two ballistas and two sets of targets so two teams can try at the same time.

"Do not get frazzled", Nicole to her husband when he keeps missing "I'll give it a go, I'm native American", Danny "If he does well on this the we won't fight. because he couldn't do anything at the tiles thing", Marie

Teams complete this road in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)

Jason* & Amy

(2-2)

Hit on his first shot

2(+0)

Nicole & Travis*

(2-2)

About 7 minutes after #1

3(+0)

Nicky & Kim*

(2-2)

4(+0)

Tim & Danny*

(1-3)

5(+0)

Brandon & Adam*

(1-3)

6(+1)

Leo & Jamal*

(2-2)

7(-1)

Ally* & Ashley

(2-2)

8(+0)

Tim* & Marie

(2-2)

Hit on his first shot

The next clue is printed on a small sticker on the back of the shield. Teams carry these shields all the way to the pit stop, as well as the painting they received earlier.

Quote

END ROAD BLOCKMake your way to Castelo dos Mouros and search the ancientramparts for the next Pit Stop!

NOTE: Exercise caution when running at Castelo dos Mouros.

Warning! The last team to check-in may be eliminated

Teams jump into their taxis and make for the castle (24km 0:23). Once there they must run on top of the walls, with a gorgeous view, to reach Phil.

Ally & Ashley arrive at the castle car park not long after Leo & Jamal and find the boys waiting for them. I suspect that it is not just that the boys want to be nice but rather that they want to keep an eye on the girls so they don't find a faster way to Phil.

"Tim & Marie, I'm sorry to tell you that you are the last team to arrive... except for one", Phil plays with Tim & Marie

And sometime after Tim & Marie have checked in, Chester and Ephraim arrive in London. When they arrive in Lisbon they are far behind that Phil meets them at the airport. "Uh oh, that's not good", Chester when they see Phil at the airport "Not real happy to see you right now Phil, gotta be honest with you", Chester knows what is coming

Unsurprisingly Phil eliminates them on the spot.

"This was a great experience", Ephraim "You're at an airport so it might be easy to get out of here", Phil can't resist teasing them

Phil says that teams are released from Castello dos Muros, where the last pit stop was. But they are clearly not released from the exact same location.

1.

Nicole & Travis

23:08

2.

Jason & Amy

23:14

(+0:06)

3.

Nicky & Kim

??:??

(+?:??)

4.

Tim & Danny

??:??

(+?:??)

5.

Brandon & Adam

??:??

(+?:??)

6.

Leo & Jamal

??:??

(+?:??)

7.

Ally & Ashley

??:??

(+?:??)

8.

Tim & Marie

??:??

(+?:??)

We are only shown the departures of the first two teams.

Route info: "Travel to Solvær, Norway". Teams must now travel by plane and ferry to Solvær, Norway. This is in the arctic circle. Teams will find their next clue by the ferry terminal i Solvær.

"Freezing, is the arctic circle ever not freezing?", Nicole dreads the next destination "I've had the very pleasant surprise of seeing that Nicole is even tougher than I thought she was", Travis

Amy interviews that they have been working with Nicole & Travis for the last two legs and that they see them as mini mentors.

Both the first two teams hope they will be able to get on an earlier flight. But that hope is dashed when they arrive at the travel agency, Osiris travel, and learn that the first flight is at 08:55 the following morning (16/6). So they realize that all teams will be on the same flight.

On arrival in Bodø teams hustle to the ferry terminal, but to no avail. There is only one ferry to Solvær per day, and today it departs at 20:30 with arrival in Solvær at 23:05.

"We're in Norway right now, how pretty it is", Nicky has time to look around

We also learn that teams have a really hard time to pronounce Solvær.

During the ferry ride they have time to play around in the wind, but as the ferry approaches Solvær teams get into race-mode again and they are soon madly sprinting along the dock towards the next clue.

This is technically a night leg because teams arrive in Solvær at 23:05, but since this is above the arctic circle the sun will stay up and it never really gets dark in the summertime.

The clue box in the harbor contains a detour clue:

Quote

DETOUR

Detour: "Hang Your Heads"or "Hammer of the Cods"

Hang Your Heads: Air outthe main ingredient for FishHead soup! Using twineand a metal spike, make sixstrings of cod heads. Thenhang them out to dry in themidnight sun.

Hammer of the Cods:Pound out some fish jerky!Scale the drying racks andretrieve 15 pairs of driedcod. Then use a woodenmallet to pound out a kilo ofjerk.

In hang your heads teams must create six bundles of 10 cod heads each. They must then load them into a wheelbarrow and transport them to the drying racks (1.3km) where they must hang them on the marked poles.

In hammer of the cods teams must first make their way on foot to the drying racks (1.3km). Then climb 30ft up in the air and fetch 15 pair of dried cods. They must then carry these back to the fish factory where they get to pound them.

Both detour options first require teams to make their way to L. Bergs Sønner fish factory.

"At one point we were both boy-scouts, we're no longer boy-scouts", Brandon "Now we're man-scouts", Adam fills in

"What's a kilo?", Kim lacks education

"Look at that, you expect vikings to come rushing down that mountain at any point", Brandon enjoys the view

The fish factory turns out to be about 2km away. Since this is a small town and it is in the middle of the night taxis are few and far between. Tim & Marie are the first ones to realize they need a taxi and grab the only one available at the spot. Some teams select to run and some to call for taxis. Eventually teams reach the fish factory in the following order: 1(+3) Tim & Marie, taxi 2(+0) Brandon & Adam, jogged 3(-2) Jason & Amy, taxi 4(+1) Ally & Ashley, walked 5(+1) Leo & Jamal, walked 6(-3) Nicole & Travis, taxi, after 23:24 7(+1) Tim & Danny, taxi 8(-1) Nicky & Kim, jogged

"They're gonna be good at this. They eat gross stuff and do gross stuff all the time", Marie think Brandon & Adam will do good

Jason mentions to Marie that they need to put ten heads on each string, not eight as Tim & Marie have been doing: "Jay & Amy, they know we have the express pass. And I don't really care what their motivation is for wanting to help me as long as they help me", Marie

"This one's too small, like a child", Ashley gets emotionally attached to a fish head "Everything he does is really sexy", Amy is more than a little smitten with her partner

As they start making their way to the drying racks, at 01:09, Leo & Jamal realize that their wheelbarrow has a nearly flat tire. It becomes really difficult to push and progress is slow so other teams do pass them. "This is beyond grueling", Jamal

Tim & Marie is the first of the cod head teams to arrive at the drying racks. They pick the closest pole to hang their cod heads. Unfortunately for them they miss the small fact that they are supposed to use the marked poles, and the one they pick was not marked. "I don't have time to stand looking at yours", Brandon declines to help them "I mean we have an express pass, help us", Marie tries to use the express pass as leverage "I don't need your damn express pass", but to no avail, as Brandon doesn't care

Here we get to see an interview where Brandon tells he have heard from all the other teams that Marie have promised all them the express pass at one time or another. "Marie is a little bit manipulative to begin with", Adam "I'll tell you where you can stick your express pass", Adam

Meanwhile Tim & Marie get rejected again, and none of the other teams there show the slightest inclination to help them. "Why is this happening to me? I'm nice to everyone!", Marie can't understand why the other teams won't help her

On their way back to the factory Jason & Amy run into Travis & Nicole. Amy tells them to look for the marked poles, and how they are marked.

Eventually Marie figures out that they have used an unmarked pole and they move all their cod heads to a marked pole and get approved.

Carrying fifteen pair of dried cod is heavy as Nicky & Kim are finding out. They are really struggling with the task. And as they go back Kim suddenly miss the clue: "Wait, now I lost it. Did I drop the clue?", Kim "It's in my mouth", After some frantic searching Kim find the clue

"My hair is caught", Kim is having trouble letting go of the cod at the factory "Yeah, it kind of sucks. The other one would have been a lot better to do", Tim & Danny about the hammering when Nicky & Kim asks "I was so angry at those cod that I kind of started to take out my aggression on them", Kim had no problem with the hammering "This stuff really ain't bad", Tim & Danny try some fish jerky when they're done

Take a high-speed ridein a RIB boat to theFishing Village ofHenningsvær to findyour next clue!

Teams must now return their protective clothes and equipment to the fish factory. Then make their way on foot to the Lofoten Explorer shop in the harbor (1.3km) where they will get equipped for the boat ride.

It is not shown in the episode but Leo & Jamal take a taxi there. They then realize their mistake and go back to the factory to make their way on foot to avoid the penalty.

"Let's get some beards in the wind", Adam gets the title when the boat leaves the harbor

In this road block contestants must jump off the Henningsvær bridge and swing at the end of an 80 ft rope. They must then unclip and plunge into the frigid arctic water where they can swim to a buoy with their next clue.

"Running in a wet suit", Brandon runs for the bridge after suiting up

None of the teams have any trouble jumping off the bridge. But Jason has a hard time to reach the strap he needs to pull to release himself. Eventually he succeeds and drops into the frigid water.

"Are you cold?", Marie to Tim as he swims up to the boat "I don't wanna get eliminated, I don;t wanna stop seeing the world", Nicky & Kim know they are last

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)

Brandon* & Adam

(2-3)

2(+0)

Jason* & Amy

(3-2)

3(+0)

Tim* & Marie

(3-2)

4(+0)

Nicole* & Travis

(3-2)

5(+0)

Ally & Ashley*

(2-3)

6(+0)

Leo & Jamal*

(2-3)

7(+0)

Tim* & Danny

(2-3)

8(+0)

Nicky* & Kim

(3-2)

Teams must now make their way back to shore. It is not shown in the telecast but it looks like they pick up a car and drive themselves to a rock quarry (1.2km 0:02) where the next task is found. Here they must choose a Ford Ranger and back it up to a big rock lying on a sled in a quarry across the road. They must then secure the rock to the sled and connect the sled to the truck with chains before pulling it forward to reveal their next clue as well as a satchel of viking coins.

"Brandon's done construction and I've done construction", Adam think they are well qualified for this task "I've got this, it is no problem", Jason also has experience with hooking stuff up "Nobody's in charge of this operation. This is one where neither one of us knows what we are doing", Marie

"The coins are probably our clue", Marie & Tim miss the real clue

"We got in, and it was stick shift", Ally & Ashley have a problem

Ally & Ashley are having serious problems with the stick shift pickup truck. Luckily for them Tim & Danny are nice and help them out. I wonder why they didn't ask Leo & Jamal who are also in the quarry.

The clue is a small piece of cloth with a picture of a viking longhouse on it, it is also labeled "VIKING LONGHOUSE". Teams must now drive themselves to the next pit stop at the Lofoten Viking longhouse museum (45km 0:40).

"I don't know where we are going right now", Marie hasn't realized they miss the clue

"It would be a blessing to find somebody at 3'a clock in the morning to get directions", Jason about the problem with getting directions

Inside the longhouse there is a viking party going on. This is also where teams find Phil and the mat. At least Brandon & Adam does. They are the first team to reach him, and they win $5000 each. They also learn that the race is still on when Phil gives them their next clue. The episode ends before any other team reach Phil.

Meanwhile Tim & Marie are completely lost. They meet Travis & Nicole who are also trying to find the next location. But Travis & Nicole has an advantage in that they have the clue so they know where they are going. Tim & Marie still don't have the clue so they are completely clueless.

"I could see the desperation in her face", Nicole see that Marie is lost "I will tell you, but I want the express pass", Nicole realize she can use the situation "Do you want the pit stop or not?", Nicole pressures Marie

And the episode ends before we get to know if Marie is desperate enough to give up the express pass or not.

At the end of the last episode we had one team which had reached the pit stop at the Viking Longhouse museum on Lofoten. After receiving their price they also got their next clue. We then got to see a tense situation where Marie, who missed picking up the last clue, asks Travis & Nicole where the pit stop is. Nicole realized she had an edge and demanded to get the express pass in order to help them. And there the previous episode ended.

"Alright, we'll give you the Express Pass", Marie gives in "I'm so pissed right now" Marie isn't happy about it though "This is the first time I ever make, let you make a decision" Marie let us know that it was Tim who decided to give up the second express pass "Today was torture", Nicky & Kim when they finally reach Phil

"But there's no need for tears. Because I have your next clue, and you are still racing", Phil to Nicky & Kim

The clue they get from Phil tells then to go back to Solvær and take the Hurtigruten ferry to Trondheim. Then fly to Gdansk, Poland,, and make their way to Solidarity Square where they will find their next clue. They are also warned that there is an upcoming U-turn.

"We've been racing now for 30 hours or so", Adam "'cause the sun's still up", Amy on why she guessed they should continue racing when Phil asked

Once in Solvær (55km 0:48) teams find out that the Hurtigruten boat departs at 18:30 that evening. The trip to Trondheim takes 34 hours and they will arrive there at 06:30 on the 19th. From Throndheim teams fly to Gdansk. This part is not shown but they probably flew over Oslo and arrive in Gdansk before 13.00.

The boat trips give teams time to rest up before they start racing again. It also gives Tim & Marie a chance to give the second express Pass to Travis & Nicole. Both teams are interested in keeping this transaction a secret for the moment. Tim & Marie want other teams to think they still have it and Nicole & Travis want to avoid have a target on their back in the upcoming U-turn.

Once teams land in Gdansk they are back in race mode. There is the customary mad dash to the taxis.

"There might be a bloodbath out there", Tim about the upcoming U-turn

While trying to make their way to the Solidarity Square (17km 0:17) some teams learn that there are a lot of shipyards in Gdansk, and they feel like they visit them all.

Teams must now travel by Taxi to the Golden Gate (2km 0:05), a historic entrance to old town Gdansk. Here they will find their next clue.

Brandon & Adam's driver doesn't know where it is so he calls one of his colleagues. That colleague is currently driving Jason & Amy, who tell him to not help them "They're with another team, they wouldn't tell us", Brandon realizes what happened

Pose: Get into the spirit ofthe sea! Find the God of theSea hoisting his Trident andbecome a human statue.Earn 75 Zloty from the crowdby posing like the God andthe sculptor will hand youyour next clue.

Polka: Get down, Polkastyle! Make your way to OldTown Hall and dance to theWarsaw Polka. When youthink you have all the rightmoves, join the dancers anddance for your next clue.

Caution: U-Turn Ahead!

In Pose teams must make their way to a nearby Neptune fountain (350m) and dress up as statues. This involves tight black clothes, a fake black beard and wig. They must then balance of a stand in the same pose as the god. When they stand correctly a small hatch opens where onlookers can deposit money. 75 Zloty is approximately $25. The pose they have to hold is awkward and tiring to keep.

In Polka they make their way to old town hall (600m). Here they must dress up in traditional costumes, one male and one female. Then learn a complicated routine. They will receive their next clue when they perform this correctly.

"Rock, paper, scissors for who's the man?", Danny tries to avoid getting the female polka costume "You're smaller dude", Tim has other ideas "You're a more attractive female dude", Tim also has really persuasive arguments "Aw man, do I really have to wear this?", Danny see the dress "I don't wanna look good in a dress", Danny is not happy "This was probably the hardest challenge we've done",Tim after trying for a while

To make matter worse Tim & Danny are really struggling with this detour. Tempers are flaring and their instructor have to step in: "Don't fight with each other", The instructor to Tim & Danny "Alright, they're terrible. They're worse than us", Danny gets new hope when he see Nicole & Travis dancing

Brandon & Adam initially decide to do polka. This is where one of them gets the title. But they have trouble locating the place and when they run into the pose detour they decide to switch.

"We actually did something fast", Nick & Kim are surprised over how fast they did the detour

Unfortunately for Brandon & Adman Nicky & Kim have already cleaned out the crowd. After posing for 20 minutes Brandon & Adam they have only collected 10 Zloty so they decide to switch. "We need boobs, apparently that's what does it", Brandon & Adam think they lack certain assetsOnce they find the polka detour they make relatively quick work of it. But they are still the last team to leave.

Tim & Marie decide to use the express pass at once when they reach thepose location. "If we don't use our express pass we're probably gonna get U-turned", Marie

Leo & Jamal struggle with the polka. But they manage to finish up before Brandon & Adam. And later when they are posing they spot an promising American tourist who has 50 Zloty to spare. "Tell me two quarterback and I'll give you money", The tourist as a BYU shirt on "Ahh. This stumps Leo & JamalIn the end Leo & Jamal persuade his kids to snatch the money and give it to them. Thanks to this Leo & Jamal finish this task very quickly. And when they leave they meet Brandon & Adam who are just arriving for their second posing. So yet again Brandon & Adam arrive at the posing just after another team has milked the crowd. So again they have a hard time. "This was hard to do before the dance, and it is brutal now", Brandon & Adam struggle with the posing

"That was the most frustrating thing dude, it's humiliating to", Danny is not happy

Quote

ROUTE INFO

Search the Motlawariverfront for the foremanat the medieval harborcrane to find your nextclue.

Note: For either detouryou must wear yourcostume until the end ofthis leg of the Race. Ifyou "posed," carry yourtrident and wear yourbeard for the remainderof this leg. Remove yourwig.

Teams must now make their way to the medieval crane by the riverfront (500m from pose and 950m from polka). Here they will find a foreman standing next to the new double U-turn board. This new one has cut out holes where the pictures go.

Nicky & Kim take aim at the wrong building so they run right past the foreman and the U-turn board. This allows Jason & Amy to pass them.

At the U-turn board Tim of Tim & Marie wants to U-turn Travis & Nicole to force them to use their express pass. But Marie think they may have already passed. So they decide not to U-turn anybody.

"We've been the nice boys from Oklahoma, but we're willing to do anything to win the race", Tim & Danny are ready to use the U-turn

Route info: "Make your way to the longest apartment building in Poland and search for your next clue". Teams must now make their way to Falowiec building (9.3km 0:17).

Ally & Ashley have trouble getting a taxi after the detour. None will stop for them. While they are trying Leo & Jamal turn up from their second go at the detour, they manage to get a taxi top stop and jump in, leaving the girls in the dust. "Sorry guys", Leo & Jamal to Ally & Ashley

In this road block each contestant must search the largest apartment building in Poland for a Rose Paczki (polish donut). They are given a list of 12 addresses to flats in the building and will be offered a donut in each of them. When they find a donut with red filling they will receive their next clue.

The addresses they are given are: 4B/9, 10B/99, 8A/35, 6B/92, 4D/110, 10C/34, 8C/45, 6C/60, 8C/21, 10B/116, 4B/61 AND 8B/43. The red donuts are in 8C/45.

"I'm eating donuts", Marie is excited (and probably hungry) "'Warning, you may be penalized for bad manners'. Be nice please once in your life", Tim reads the extra instructions to Marie

Marie & Amy quickly decide to work together.

Kim & Travis visit the same flat on the 11th floor. Travis has walked up while Kim took the elevator. When they are done Kim waits for the elevator while Travis hits the stairs. "I beat him up with the elevator last time so I think an elevator is faster", Kim waits for the elevator "I'd figure I give her a nice present. I just pushed the button on every floor", Travis play childish games "It just felt really natural to be in these peoples houses because they were so welcoming", Kim wouldn't have minded to be able to stay longer

Soon Travis end up meeting Marie & Amy in a flat. He realize they have been there longer and visited more flats so he decide to follow them. "He's gonna follow us to every one and know whether or not we got it", Marie realize what Travis will do "Hey, do you just want to do this together", Amy offers to cooperate

They decide to work together. Travis takes one entrance and Marie & Amy take a couple of others. Then they are supposed to share the result. "Teamwork happens when you catch up", Travis

The tree-team cooperation pact pays off when Travis finds the correct flat, and he keep his promise and tell Amy & Marie.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+3)

Nicole & Travis*

(3-3)

2(-1)

Tim & Marie*

(3-3)

3(-1)

Jason & Amy*

(3-3)

4(+1)

Tim & Danny*

(2-4)

5(-2)

Nicky & Kim*

(3-3)

6(+0)

Ally & Ashley*

(2-4)

7(+0)

Leo* & Jamal

(3-3)

8(+0)

Brandon & Adam*

(3-4)

Route info: Search for Phil on the longest wooden pier in Europe. Teams must now make their way to Sopot pier (5km 0:10) where they will find the next pit stop.

The first three teams arrive more or less simultaneously at the foot of the pier. So there is a footrace since Phil, naturally, is at the outer end of the pier.

"You wanna rock, paper, scissor for who gets the trip", Marie to her team mate "We've been doing crazy stuff together before the race started and it's not gonna stop just because the race is over", Brandon

The last pit stop was at the outer end of Sopot Pier in Gdansk. In this episode teams are released a bit further in on the same pier in the following order:

1.

Tim & Marie

08:33

2.

Jason & Amy

08:34

(+0:01)

3.

Nicole & Travis

08:35

(+0:02)

4.

Nicky & Kim

08:48

(+0:15)

5.

Tim & Danny

08:51

(+0:18)

6.

Leo & Jamal

10:10

(+1:37)

7.

Ally & Ashley

10:18

(+1:45)

Route info: "Take the train to Vienna, Austria". Teams must travel by train to Austria. Once there they must make their way to the opera house where a Rigoletto will lead them to the costume department where he will hand them their next clue.

"Let's wait for Jamie", Marie wants to wait for the next team "We did great last leg. It wasn't physical so when it's not physical I feel like we're okay", Kim is reasonably happy

At the train station the first five teams hope they can keep ahead of Leo & Jamal. They find an early connection to Vienna which is TLK57102 Gdańsk Główny -> Warszawa Centralna 10:15 - 16:44 TLK407 Warszawa Centralna -> Wien Westbahnhof 20:54 - 06:32+1

Leo & Jamal and Ally & Ashley miss the first part of this connection. But they get tickets on: TLK51116 Gdańsk Główny -> Warszawa Centralna 14:48 - 20:06which lets the catch up to the others in Warsaw. Here Leo & Jamal deny that they U-turned Brandon & Adam (which they did). But the other teams are not buying this.

In the end all teams arrive in Vienna on the same train at 06:32 on the 21st. There is the customary mad dash to the taxis. But to no avail since teams are bunched at the opera house (4.7km 0:10). There was a hours of operation here. The opera house probably opened at 07:30.

A Rigoletto leads teams up all the stairs and through the opera house to the costume department. Here he hands out the next clue. This clue envelope contains a detour and a fast forward.

For the fast forward teams must go to the Donauturm (8.3km 0:16). The clue also states that the fast forward is weather dependent. Both Jason & Amy and Nicole & Travis make for the fast forward. In the taxi Nicole & Travis realize that Jason & Amy are ahead so they abort and go for the detour instead. "It's a little breezy", Travis see the weather

When Jason & Amy see the tower they realize they might go Bungee jumping. "I'm a little terrified of this", Jason doesn't look forward to thisAt the foot of the tower there is a board:

Quote

Take a number and makeyour way to the ViewingTerrace.

Drop all your belongingbefore going up.

"I'm freaking out", Amy in the elevator

Nether Jason nor Amy are really comfortable with this. But they really want to get a first place finish so they are determined to do the jumping. But when they get to the top they are told that they can't jump right now since it is too windy. Conditions might be better in 10-15 minutes, but there are no guarantees. Jason & Amy argue a bit weather to stay and wait for better wind or not. "Babe, you know that we can beat the other teams in a road block", Amy has confidenceHere the stress of the race seems to be taking its toll and they almost have an argument. But it fizzles and eventually they decide to abort the attempt and go back to the detour.

Detour: Light Brigade or Masquerade.

In Light brigade teams must dress up as court servants and properly assemble an elaborate crystal chandelier. If they fail their chandelier will be dropped on the floor and they have to start over from scratch again.

In Masquerade teams must wear ornate masks and join a lavish Viennese ball. They must find the dancing couple wearing the same masks as themselves. The differences are subtle. This detour takes place at the Theater museum (550m). and most teams run there.

All teams choose the masquerade detour. On the way to the there Danny twists his ankle. He limps a bit but fortunately doesn't seem to be bothered too much by this during the rest of the leg.

Route info: Make your way to the Wiener Sängerknaben and search for your next clue. Most team seem to have no trouble finding a taxi after the detour. That is all but Tim & Marie. They, however, have major problems finding a taxi. It might have been predictive karma due to what happens later in the leg. "Why is this happening to us", Marie is frustrated when they can't find a taxi

Road block: "Who's a choir boy at hearth?". in this road block teams must join the choir and sing the solo part, in German, of Die Forelle by Franz Schubert. They are given sheets with the music and lyrics on. They will be judged on the pronunciation of the German lyrics and their musicality.

"I love performing, but I'm actually extremely bad at trying to speak other languages", Ally "I can't even sing music in English, so this is going to be pretty hard singing in German", Oklahoma Tim "I actually play a lot of instruments", Travis "O my god, we caught up to everybody", Jason is happy when the see all the cabs outside

The boys in the choir can't contain their mirth when they hear the "singing" abilities of our contestants. To protect everybody's sanity the judge has to interrupt some attempts early. "Stop, stop please", the judge to Travis on his first attempt "That is unfortunately not good enough to Jamal (in German) "That is not good, not good at all unfortunately", to Nicky (in German) "I'm sorry, that's terrible", to Oklahoma Tim "That was acceptable", finally, to Ally

Poor Tim is struggling a lot: "Try to imagine you are Justin Timberlake", Tim's instructor "How would an opera singer?", Tim's instructor again "Sing like you're a child", Tim recounts his instructions "It's getting better but there is still some way to go", the instructor

At the end we have two teams left Ally & Ashley and Tim & Danny. And they are way behind. Actually in the telecast all other teams have checked in at the pit stop before these teams are shown completing the detour.

"Sorry buddy, it's hard. I couldn't have done it any better", Danny to Tim

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

NOTE: You must enterthe Irrgarten at themarked entrance.Be respectful of thegrounds and stay on thepath.

Teams must now make their way to the Schönbrunn Palace (8.5km 0:18) and find the maze. Their next clue can be found inside the maze.

Upon exiting the Sängerknaben house Nicky & Kim run to the first taxi they see. When they spot Jason & Amy's bags in it they say sorry and start running to the street. They know that according to the rules of the race they can't interfere with another team's bags. "He's taking them out", Nicky see that the taxi driver removes the bagsThey realize they can legally take the taxi, but decide to not mess around with that and leave to find their own cab.

"Let's go steal somebody's cab", Marie has a plan when they complete the road blockOnce they get out Tim & Marie jump into Jason & Amy's waiting cab (where the bags have already been removed). "PS, the Afghanimals took their cab, we saw it happen", Marie instructs Tim on what to say

Jason & Amy are not happy when they do not find they taxi waiting outside. They quickly assume that another team took it. "I'm going to flip out on the team",

Meanwhile at Schönbrunn the maze is more exiting that expected since we get Nicole & Travis in it at the same time as Nicky & Kim. Both teams know that they can expect the pit stop after this so they frantically search for the clue box. Nicky & Kim find it first and are the first team to leave.

A little later Marie asks some kids for help in the Maze "I love little kids", Marie after a kid shows her the way in the maze

As Jason & Amy arrive at Schönbrunn they see their taxi waiting outside. Jason run over and see Tim & Marie's bags in the back. "I'm so pissed", Amy

"Oh my gosh, this is beautiful", Ally & Ashley when they arrive at Schönbrunn

Tim & Danny see Ally & Ashley exit the maze so their spirits are lifted. "We don't want them to see us cause then they'll start running", Danny

The Gloriette is a prominent feature in the Schönbrunn gardens. It lies on a steep hill about 500m away.

Nicky & Kim rush back to pay their waiting taxi and get directions while Nicole & Travis run to the Palace entrance. The episode is cut like there is a footrace between the first two teams. But you never see both teams in the same shot, which is usually a clear indication that things are not as tight as they are made out to seem. And indeed the first team have left the mat before #2 arrives.

"Dammit Phil, why do you pick hills", Ally & Ashley struggle on the path up the hill

At the mat we learn that the nickname for Nicole & Travis is "Power Parents", and they are not unhappy about that.

We also get some fireworks when Jason & Amy catch up with Tim & Marie on the mat. Tim looks embarrassed while Marie is defiant. Jason & Amy are mostly disappointed in Tim & Marie while Marie thinks that Jason & May would have done the same if they were in the same situation. Jason & Amy point out that they were in the same situation, no taxi, but still did not take another teams taxi. "It doesn't matter, we went all the way to a fast forward back and we're still here. We're gonna kick their ass, we know we are a better team", Jason

"We didn't win a million bucks, but we have memories you know, that will last us a lifetime", Tim

The last pit stop was at Schloss Schönbrunn in Vienna, Austria. Contrary to what Phil says teams are not released from here but rather from the Stadpark in central Vienna. They are released in the following order:

1.

Nicole & Travis

12:03

2.

Nicky & Kim

12:09

(+0:06)

3.

Leo & Jamal

12:10

(+0:07)

4.

Tim & Marie

12:23

(+0:20)

5.

Jason & Amy

12:28

(+0:25)

6.

Ally & Ashley

13:00

(+0:57)

Teams must now fly to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Once they land they should make their way to the Sheikh Zayed mosque where they will receive their next clue.

"We definitely could be a little bit more on", Nicky think they could race faster

All teams head for the airport. That is all except Leo & Jamal who instead head into the nearby Hilton to book a flight online.

"Leo & I should have an advantage going to Abu Dhabi. I mean just the fact that we are form the middle east, we speak a little bit Arabic", Jamal is excited "We're still a little frustrated that Tim & Marie stole our cab the last leg", Jason

At the ticketing counter Nick & Kim tease Tim & Marie, who are right behind them in line, buy taking plenty of time with the agent asking if the plane is a nice one and which kinds of meals are available.

On arrival there isn't the usual rush to the taxis. Instead teams calmly walk out to the taxi stands (I wonder what instructions they were given). They get into taxis and head for the Sheik zayed mosque (21km 0:17), which is one of the largest in the world. Here the women have to cover themselves. And teams are not allowed to run. They have to walk through the compound, the outer courtyard and into the big chamber where they are given their next clue.

"That was truly a sight to see", Leo is impressed by the mosque "The mosque is absolutely gorgeous", Ashley "It's one of the craziest things I've ever seen in my life", Tim "She couldn't run, she'd take her shoes off, she couldn't yell. As a matter of fact, could we continue the race in a mosque only?", Tim sees the advantages of the situation "Muslim people get like a bad rep. You can't categorize a whole group of people based on one person's actions", Nicky & Kim are insightful

Sort It Out: Do some speeddating! Each oasis on theArabian Peninsula grows itsown variety of dates. Collectan assortment of dates in theDate market and use them tocreate a gift arrangement.When the Date Merchantapproves your work you willreceive your next clue.

Sew It Up:...

In sew it up teams must go to the harbor and assemble a traditional finishing net. This work is tedious and takes place out in the hot sun.

In sort it out teams must go to Amber Dates Trading in the Date market and look at an example plate of dates. They must then use dates from the marked tables to recreate this. This task requires an eye for detail and is harder than it looks. Many teams are rejected for not having the correct dates.

"It's just a matter of looking at the texture and color", Leo & Jamal make it sound easy

A confounding factor at the date task is that one kind of dates can only be found on a marked table which stands a bit apart from the others. Nicky & Kim see this early on but do not tell the others. "Let's not go over there until we know, like, no one's looking, right?", KimLeo & Jamal flat out asks them where they found those dates but Nicky & Kim don't help them. "Guys, we're in the middle of counting", Kim politely declines to help themNicky & Kim think that if they told Leo & Jamal the latter would be really loud about it and all the others would notice. And they are soon proven right when Leo & Jamal finally find the missing dates, they can't contain themselves and everybody rushes over. "Speed dating is the worst", Ally & Ashley get the title when they finally manage to recreate the plate of dates

Tim & Marie argue constantly during the task and this annoys the other teams a lot. This is the opposite of Jason & Amy over at sewing who work efficiently next to each other and hardly say a word to each other.

Travis is not as calm as Jason. He is hot and he finds that Nicole has made an error which he has to correct. "Travis, this is probably not the time. You can tell me how careless I was later", Nicole defuses the situationThey do of course wonder if they should use the express pass, but in the end they decide to not do it.

In this road block teams must first drop 200 feet off a local building. They must then get into a race-car with a professional driver. The driver will then drive a lap around the racecourse. Along the way there are 8 signs with F1-racers and their fastest lap times (all times are 1.40.xxx). Contestants must memorize the fastest lap (time and name of driver) and tell this to the pit crew chief. If they fail they are sent on another lap.

The actual drop is fairly easy. They are first released down a zip line. When it stops they just have to pull out a pin and they will be lowered to the ground 200' down.

"We made an agreement before the race, Amy was going to do anything with heights. And lo and behold, I've done everything with heights", Jason "I never want to do that again, it was so scary", Ally uses her high pitched voice up in the air

Ally is a strong contender but Kim is the outstanding winner of the screaming while dropping down competition.

The cars are being driven quite fast so racers have a hard time to concentrate and read the signs. "I love to drive fast, I've got some speeding tickets in my life. But there were no speeding tickets on this track.", Leo find that the car is fast "I saw the first sign and was 'my, I've got it'. Then I see a second sign...", for a moment Jason thought it was going to be easy "Shoot, I want to go again", Travis want to ride more in the race car "Oh my god, I'm like terrified by these things", Kim flinches as she approaches the race car

Spotting and remembering the fastest lap time and name turns out to be fairly difficult. Travis seem to be the one finishing that part the fastest.

On the other end of the spectrum we having Ally who seems to have forgotten the instructions so to start with she doesn't even know what she's supposed to be doing. Eventually she figures out that the signs may be the key and start reciting them one by one. This is time consuming so Nicky & Kim catch up and they both struggle to beat each other. "Oh my god. What am I looking for again?", Ally while being tossed around in the race car "I'm getting really nervous", Ashley find it nerve wrecking when Ally & Kim both struggle with the task "Oh god, I'm about to get sick in here", Ally is happy when she get the right answer "I'm getting a little nervous that we are the last team, and we really don't wanna go home", Nicky after Ally & Ashley have left

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)

Leo* & Jamal

(4-4)

2(+0)

Jason* & Amy

(4-4)

3(+0)

Nicole & Travis*

(3-5)

4(+0)

Tim & Marie*

(4-4)

5(+0)

Ally* & Ashley

(4-4)

6(+0)

Nicky & Kim*

(4-4)

Quote

ROUTE INFO

Go find Phil on theChampions Podium!!!!

Warning: The last team tocheck in may beeliminated.

The champions podium is nearby and the way is marked so teams arrive in the same order the completed the road block: 1(+0) Leo & Jamal, win a trip to Paris, France 2(+0) Jason & Amy 3(+0) Nicole & Travis 4(+0) Tim & Marie 5(+0) Ally & Ashley 6(+0) Nicky & Kim, are saved by a non-elimination

"We're the Vegas losers on this", Jason comments on their fourth second place finish "I totally let us down as a team and I take full responsibility", Nicole is hard on herself "We need to get a little more fire in our butts", Nicky know what they need to survive the next leg

The last pit stop was at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Teams seem to start just outside this in the following order:

1.

Leo & Jamal

07:10

2.

Jason & Amy

07:15

(+0:05)

3.

Nicole & Travis

07:23

(+0:13)

4.

Tim & Marie

07:44

(+0:34)

5.

Ally & Ashley

07:53

(+0:43)

6.

Nicky & Kim

08:02

(+0:52)

Route info: "Drive yourselves to into the dunes. The satchel of Viking coins you have carried from earlier is your is your personal key to a Ford Explorer. You will find your Ford Explorer in garage 14 at at pit road. Caution U-turn ahead." Teams are given $1 for this leg.

The key to this puzzle is to place the coins in the order they are depicted on the satchel. Then turn them over a look at the numbers on the back side, which is their code. If they fail to solve this, or have lost their coins, they can ask for help and wait 20 minutes.

"We have to stay ahead of the pack because there's another U-turn coming up and a lot of teams are gunning for us", Leo knows what's ahead "Babe, we know the code already", Amy has cracked the code long before this leg "How do you unlock it with coins", Ally & Ashley are stumped "We're not bunnies anymore. We're ninjas", Nicky think they need to step it up on this leg "Babe, we were supposed to make that left", Amy & Jason have navigational issues

Teams must now drive themselves to Al-Kathim north on the E22 (83km 1:00). Here they will find sand buggies parked next to the highway. Teams reach these in the following order: 1(+0) Leo & Jamal 2(+1) Nicole & Travis, a few seconds after #1 3(-1) Jason & Amy, as team #1 leaves 4(+0) Tim & Marie, a couple of minuter after #3 5(+1) Nicky & Kim 6(-1) Ally & Ashley, shortly after #5

Route info: "Follow the flags into the dessert to find your next clue". Teams must now drive sand buggies along some flags into the dessert. The flags will lead them to their next clue box. The course doesn't seem long but there are some challenging hills. The key seems to be to keep your speed.

"Gotta get enough momentum", Nicole gives instructions to Travis when they get stuck on a slope

Jason & Amy leave in their sand buggy as Tim & Marie step out of their car. And just as they return we see Tim & Marie start their buggy. So the drive was fairly quick. That is assuming you don't get stuck in the sand as Nicky & Kim do. They get stuck good and burn out their clutch so they have to get a new vehicle.

"All those years at Pismo Dunes paid off", Ally & Ashley have experience driving a sand buggy "We have not driven Dune Buggies before, as you probably might have figured by now", Kim

Route info: "Return to your Ford Explorer end drive yourself to Al Ain Oasis. Once there find a date palm with a clue hanging high above".

At the oasis (91km 1:04) teams have to find the date palms with clues hanging from them. Below them is a group of men who will climb up and retrieve the clues for the racers when they arrive. Teams get the clue here in the following order: 1(+1) Nicole & Travis 2(-1) Leo & Jamal, arrive as #1 are leaving 3(+1) Tim & Marie, just before 11:00 4(-1) Jason & Amy 5(+0) Ally & Ashley 6(+0) Nicky & Kim, as #5 are getting directions

Quote

DETOUR

Detour: "Wedding Guests" or"Beauty Contest"

Wedding Guests: Helpprepare a traditional Emiratiwedding dish! Prepare theingredients according to therecipe and deliver them to thecooking station. Then serve aplatter of food to the WeddingParty to receive your nextclue.

Beauty Contest: Who is thefairest of them all? Pick awinner in a beauty contest.Dress up your beauty andwalk them down the runway.If the Judges approve theywill hand you your next clue.

Once they have prepared the ingredients, and if the judge approves, they can put them in a big bowl and deliver to the cooking station. They are then give a precooked plate of food which they must bring to the wedding party.

Beauty contest: what the clue doesn't say is that the beauty is a camel. Teams are given a sheet with instructions on how to judge the beauty of a camel. It states things like "FRONT PART, Neck Width, Shoulder". They must then walk into a corral which contains a bunch of camels and select one. The selected camel will be caught and they must then dress and prepare it. Finally they may present their beauty to the judges. If the judges disapprove they have to start over with another camel.

Both detour options take place in the Al-Jahili Fort (3km 0:07).

"I've competed in beauty pageants for 13 years, so if I can't dress up my contestant I've got some serious issues", Amy thinks she has experience "I own a restaurant bar so, and I love cooking and I'm great with knives", Leo think they can do the wedding side quickly "He knows he's hot", Tim spots a promising camel "Got me", The camel later hits Tim with a well-placed kick "The head, taller", A judge explains to Tim & Marie why their camel isn't good enough "We picked a bad camel I think", Jason has his doubts about their uncooperative camel

While Leo & Jamal are slicing onions Tim & Marie rush in asking about a tower. Leo & Jamal realize Tim & Marie have completed the beauty thing and that it must be a lot faster so they immediately switch.

Later on when Leo & Jamal have been U-turned they are back at chopping their ingredients when Nicky & Kim arrive. They decide to lie about how long they have been working. "Like 15 minutes", Leo & Jamal lie about how long they've been working "A lot more appreciation for my butcher, that's for sure", Nicky learn how hard it is to gut a chicken "There's no way they did all that in fifteen minutes", Kim realize they have been lied to

"You're one hot camel", Ally gets the title

It probably took Tim & Marie 25-30 minutes to perform this detour, and they had their first camel rejected.

The Al Jahil tower is the largest tower in this fort and is fairly easy to find. That is for all teams except Tim & Marie. They miss it completely and instead grab their backpacks from the car and take off running. They waste about 20 minutes before they finally find the tower at 11:50.

"I don't wanna do what we normally do, run 45 minutes in the wrong direction when it was 2 feet from where we were supposed to be", Marie, who is about to do just that "Let's not let them see us", Amy when she and Jason drive past Tim & Marie half a mile down the road

"The stoplights are different and there are roundabouts everywhere", Ally find it frustrating to drive "We don't do well when we have to drive ourselves, she's not a very good navigator", Ally about Ashley "We keep on getting great information, but we don't know how to follow it", Ally

Here Nicky & Kim encounter their speed bump. They must jump into a wave pool and swim across it and climb a rope ladder at the other side. The pool creates a 6ft wave every 90 seconds and the edges are high so the task seems rather tough.

"At first we thought, well this is easy, but then I forgot that Kim is afraid of heights", Nicky "Oh my god. It's really hard to climb", Nicky & Kim realize that climbing a rope ladder is hard

Quote

ROAD BLOCK

Who likes rapid transit?

In this road block contestants must navigate, together with a guide, the worlds largest man made rapids (class 4). Along the way they must collect three flags hanging above the water course. If they fail to collect all flags they must go again to catch the remaining flags.

"I was really proud of Nicole and how she got through the White Water rafting", Travis "It was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be", Tim

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)

Nicole* & Travis

(4-5)

2(+0)

Jason* & Amy

(5-4)

3(+0)

Tim* & Marie

(5-4)

4(+0)

Leo & Jamal*

(4-5)

5(+0)

Ally & Ashley*

(4-5)

6(+0)

Nicky* & Kim

(5-4)

Quote

ROUTE INFO

Drive yourselves upJebel Hafeet and searchfor your next pit stop.

Warning: The last teamto check in may beeliminated.

Team must now drive a beautiful winding road up a big ridge (4000 feet) to Mercure Grand Jebel Hafeet hotel on top (15km 0:21).

Once they reach the hotel the route seems to be marked so nobody have any navigational issues. They reach Phil in the following order: 1(+0) Nicole & Travis, each win a car of their choosing 2(+0) Jason & Amy 3(+0) Tim & Marie 4(+0) Leo & Jamal 5(+0) Ally & Ashley, a couple of minutes after #4 6(+0) Nicky & Kim, are eliminated

All distances and driving times in this report come from Google. But specially the times need to be taken with a big bag of Chilean salt given what we see of the local traffic chaos in the episode.

The last pit stop was at the Mercure Grand Jebel Hafeet hotel. Phil also says that this is the start of the next leg, but in reality teams start from the Yas Viceroy Hotel which is right where the previous leg started, 186km away. This is probably the same hotel which was used during the last pit stop as well. Teams are released in the following order:

1.

Nicole & Travis

00:38

2.

Jason & Amy

00:52

(+0:14)

3.

Tim & Marie

01:15

(+0:37)

4.

Leo & Jamal

02:06

(+1:28), were supposed to start at 01:59

5.

Ally & Ashley

02:06

(+1:28)

Quote

ROUTE INFO

Fly to Bandung,Indonesia!

Once there, make your way to the village ofCikandar in Cileunyiand search for theLapangawh KelangkasanAp???emba

You have $31 for thisleg of the race.

Once in Cikandar teams must search for the Ram arena to get their next clue.

"Our faith is why we're here", Travis gives some background on themselves "We slept in a little bit", Leo & Jamal miss their start time by a few minutes

At the airport Leo & Jamal speak with Travis & Nicole about the U-turn on the last leg. We get the distinct feeling those teams do not like each other. "Jamal & Leo, you just can't believe them. It's tough for us since we live our lives differently.", Travis consider himself morally superior

For the Elephants: Pick upa snack for the elephants inthe Pasar Simpang Dagoand bring it to KebunBinatang Bandung. Feedthe elephants to receiveyour next clue.

For the Birds: Pick up twobirds from Kios Pak Dedi,and take them to a birdsong Grand Prix. Encourageyour birds while they sing inthe competition to receiveyour next clue.

In for the Elephants teams must first make their way to the market (5.5km 0:14) and pick up: 8 water melons 2 stocks of bananas 1 dozen sweet potatoes 5 stalks of sugarcaneAfter that they must head for the zoo (2.5km 0:06). Here they must transport the food on a hand trolley to the elephants and feed them. This is trickier than it sounds. The stalks of sugarcane are long and hard to transport in the taxi. And at the zoo the trolley is flat so stuff tends to fall off. And the distance in the zoo is fairly large. But the elephants are cool.

In for the Birds teams must first make their way to a market (3.7km 0:11) and pick up two birds. Then deliver them to a bird song grand prix at the Sumber Sari arena. Once the birds have been scored the judge will give them their next clue.

The bird singing grand prix is an awesome local events. There are lots of spectators pressing against the railings and a lot of excitement in the air. "We are super energized", Nicole after the grand pix atmosphere

Ally & Ashley have the mother of a bad day here at the detour. For starters they go directly to the zoo. They run around there for a while to find the marked entrance. Once they find the entrance they notice that there is no big market outside. After scratching their heads and reading their clue for a while they realize that they have to go to the market first. "I feel like we lost a whole lot of time right there", Ashley

Once they reach the market they release their cab. Only to soon realize they need a new cab, which is hard to get. Once they get that they start loading up, but the taxi refuses to take the sugarcane. They argue a while about switching but eventually keep doing this detour, they leave the sugarcane and go to the zoo!!! "I need to calm down? Ally, we're so screwed right now", Ashley is not happy to be told to calm down

They travel to the zoo and transport their fruits to the elephants before going back for the sugarcane. When they are running back through the zoo they meet Jason & Amy and Tim & Marie who are all arriving with all of their fruits. Ally & Ashley go back and load their sugarcane into their new taxi. "Alright people, part like the red sea", Ashley get the title when she wishes the traffic jams away "This is actually really cool", Ashley finally get to feed the elephant

Leo & Jamal are smart and tie a scarf around the water melons to keep them from falling off the trolley. When they leave they run into Ally & Ashley, who just arrived with their first load, and give them a scarf and some good advice.

Jason & Amy put all their fruits in a blanket they had. This saves a lot of time.

Route info: Make your way to Saung Angklung Udjo and search for your next clue.

Once teams arrive (6.8km 0:13), in the same order, they find the next clue box outside.

Quote

ROAD BLOCK

Who has an inkling forAngklung?

An anklung is a traditional Indonesian instrument made of bamboo. In this road block contestants must each assemble one anklung. The task is made harder by the fact that there is no sample to look at, only the ones being played by the local kids. And all the parts are tossed together in a big pile on the floor. The place is also a riot in color and music with lots of kids playing music on anklungs and other instruments. Once done teams must bring their anklung to a panel of kids who will check if it is assembled correctly.

"I felt like Gladiator in the Colosseum", Leo describe how it felt to arrive

Nicole struggles a lot. She seems stressed and have a hard time figuring out what she needs to do. "Nooo", The judging kids in chorus to Nicole on her first attempt "I don't understand this concept, what am I missing?", Nicole is baffled

Leo is almost correct on his first try. He has the right notes, but one girl points out that the stand is not correct.

When Tim & Marie arrive Marie has a hunch that the task is about music so she has Tim do this one even though it really is her turn. "I was in chorus in high-school, which I don't like to admit", Tim

Leo is the first contestant to get approved. The judging area is outside, but his shouts of joy lets everybody know he got it. "Leo, destroy yours. The instrument. Don't let no one see.", Jamal shouts

Nicole seizes the moment and runs over to where the judges are and try to peek at Leo's instrument.

Here Travis & Nicole are made to look very bad because as Nicole is trying to peek at Leo's instrument, which he doesn't want to let her see. The editors cut in fragments from an interview where she and Travis talk about how honest they want to run their race and how they want to be a good example for others. "We're running this race in a honest way", Nicole

Nicole has lost her cool and seems unable to concentrate on the task. Meanwhile Travis shout in frustration from the stands. Things are only getting worse until finally Amy, after being approved, helps her. While Amy is helping Nicole the pressure rises with the arrival of Ally & Ashley.

Helping Nicole might not be the best strategic move, but Amy seems to value their friendship more so she spends 5 minutes helping Nicole. This help is enough to enable Nicole to assemble it correctly and she is soon approved.

Ally & Ashley are the last one left and defeat hangs in the air. Ashley at least gets a big round of applause from the kids when she completes the anklung. According to interviews after the race she completed the task fairly quickly.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+1)

Leo* & Jamal

(5-5)

2(+2)

Tim* & Marie

(6-4)

One minute after team #1

3(+0)

Jason & Amy*

(5-5)

4(-3)

Nicole* & Travis

(5-5)

Probably after about 40 minutes

5(+0)

Ally & Ashley*

(4-6)

Quote

ROUTE INFO

Make your way to yournext pit stop, theBosscha Observatory inLembang.

Warning !! The last Teamto check-in may beeliminated

"I'm embarrassed", In the taxi Travis is not happy with Nicole's performance at the road block

Teams must make their way to the CIC north entrance. Tim & Marie are driven to the south entrance and they waste a lot of time looking for any markers. When they finally find the right entrance all other teams have already left.

Once they arrive at the north entrance teams find that the street stall they are headed for is called "King Cobra House" and they will have to eat some grilled king cobra. The meal must be eaten in front of a glass cage filled with live cobras.

"Hoo hoo", Leo literally jumps backwards when he realizes the glass cage is filled with live snakes "Very chewy and rubbery", Jamal doesn't like eating cobra "I didn't really like it, at all", Jason (while Amy laughs) "That was actually better than I though it was gonna be", Nicole had no problem

"I just can't eat gross stuff", Marie

Marie has serious issues eating the snake. But she overcomes her fobies and eats it.

Leo & Jamal lie to Jason & Amy and Travis & Nicole by saying that Tim & Marie already left. But at the next task Jamal admits they were just messing with them.

Teams must pick up 60 eggs from the food stand. Then take an 8 minute ride on the back of a local taxi (motorbike) to a crater. Here they must descend into the crater, pick up a basket-on-a-stick and use this and a boiling pool of water to hard boil 12 eggs. Once they think they are done they must head back up out of the crater and back on the motorcycle. When they reach the entrance the judge slowly and methodically will cut open all their to and check if they are hard boiled. If not they have to go back and try again.

The track into the crater is treacherous and teams try to hurry without breaking any eggs.

"This road block was clearly about patience", Travis

Travis and Jason let their eggs boil for 8 minutes before they leave. Jamal gives his an extra 2 minutes. This leads to some tense moments by the judge where both Travis and Jason are found to have non-hard-boiled eggs. Jamal looks good, but in the end the judge rejects some of his eggs as well.

"Sorry man, I blew that for you", Travis takes the blame "When you see Marie you can tell her it only takes 8 minutes", Jason to Jamal

While Leo, Amy and Nicole wait Tim & Marie show up. "Marie, she eats healthy, and she goes 'I don't know how to hard boil an egg'", Tim tells the others while waiting

On her way down on the motorcycle Marie meets the other teams as they are on their way back for the second time. "It's quick", Jason gives Marie some misleading advice

The first three teams are approved on their second attempt and promptly leave. This lets Tim be philosophical in his solitude while waiting for Marie. "This's gonna be a problem because Marie lack a little thing called patience", Tim expects Marie to fail

It looks like Tim is right because Marie doesn't seem to have a clue. She holds her eggs over the water instead of in. "I'm 29 years old and I have not boiled an egg before", Marie "This sucks, it smells and it's hot and I hate eggs and I just ate a snake. So far today blows", Marie is miserable "The good news is though, is that everything she does cook is always well done, no matter what, like hockey puck style", Tim on Marie's cooking skills

Despite Tim's misgivings Marie comes back with hard-boiled eggs on her first try.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+1)

Jason* & Amy

(6-5)

On his second attempt

2(+2)

Nicole & Travis*

(5-6)

On his second attempt

3(-2)

Leo & Jamal*

(5-6)

On his second attempt

4(+0)

Tim & Marie*

(6-5)

On her first attempt

After completing this challenge teams are mysteriously transported to a parking lot up on the mountain where they open a detour clue. This transport is probably just courtesy of a route info which was cut.

Quote

DETOUR

Detour: "Paint Your Partner"or "Turn Over a New Leaf"

Paint Your Partner: Workingsimultaneously, make eachother up as traditionalJavanese brides. When theJavanese beauticianapproves, you will receiveyour next clue.

In turn over a new leaf teams must search through a marked portion of tea fields for a pair of clipping shears. On their way to the fields teams also pass a sign warning for snakes. This seems to be real since Leo & Jamal later do run into a snake among the tea bushes.

"This is completely ridiculous, I'm so out of my element right now", Jason is not comfortable with makeup "My husband looks like the sexiest drag queen ever", Nicole

"You look so pretty when you're complaining", Jamal while searching the tea fields

"I have no idea what we're doing", Travis

In paint your partner teams can not use a mirror, but must rely on each other. This challenge is tedious and takes a long time. Most of the contestants are also not particularly well versed in the dark arts of makeup. The best shot is of the judge who stands there and just gapes in amazement as Nicole work on Travis. As soon as Travis looks over at him he switches to an encouraging smile. But I wonder what he was thinking.

After about 2 hours and searching the area couple of times for the shears Leo & Jamal decide to switch. Everybody is happy when they walk into the beauty parlor. Leo & Jamal are happy that the other teams are still there and the others are happy that Leo & Jamal haven't been able to find the shears. "Remember that little thing called karma?", Amy

Once Leo & Jamal realize that they have to shave to complete the makeup challenge they switch back to the tea detour.

Jason & Amy are doing really good at this challenge while Travis & Nicole struggles. Tim & Marie are making good progress but have a lot of catching up to do. Leo & Jamal are just miserable.

When Jamal finally find the shears it is in a row they have already searched. But Leo missed it since he was looking at the ground while the shears were on top of the tea bushes. They may have spent almost 5 hours on this detour.

The last pit stop was at the foot of the Cimahi waterfall in Bandung, Indonesia. This start seems to be in the gardens of the pit stop hotel. Teams are released in the following order:

1.

Jason & Amy

01:25

2.

Tim & Marie

02:25

(+1:00)

3.

Nicole & Travis

02:26

(+1:01)

4.

Leo & Jamal

03:19

(+1:54)

Route info: "Fly to Tokyo". Once they land teams must make their way to Gotokuji temple where they will find their next clue among hundreds of white cat figures.

Jason & Amy pop into a nearby hotel (probably the pit stop hotel) and do flight research on the computers there. They find two flights which lands 10 minutes apart. They want to make sure that all teams end up on the same flight.

"Things come very easy to Travis. There's times when he's not always very patient if I don't get things at the same level as he does", Nicole knows her husband

All teams go to a travel agency called Universal holiday to get their tickets. Jason & Amy find that the first flight is full (from the screen we see that there are only 3 economy seats left and each team need 4). When Tim & Marie and Travis & Nicole arrive Nicole outlines a plan for the first tree teams to gang up and cooperate in order to eliminate Leo & Jamal. The other two teams seem to agree to this proposed alliance.

Nicole & Travis are still at the travel agency when Leo & Jamal arrive. "We just saw Travis & Nicole, and we acted as we didn't even see them", Jamal has frosty relations with Travis & Nicole

"They lie, and they said that that's how doing the race", Nicole about Leo & Jamal "We just choose not to be those people", Travis feel morally superior to them

Once in Singapore Leo & Jamal rush to the ticketing counter and now there are seats available on the earlier flight. So they split off and fly: CX734 SIN-HKG 16:14 - 19:52 (scheduled 16:05 - 20:05) CX524 HKG-NRT 00:56+1 - 06:12+1 (scheduled 01:00+1 - 06:10+1)

Once in Tokyo Leo & Jamal quickly find a taxi. The other teams have a harder time. There are only two taxis available, which are claimed by Jason & Amy and Travis & Nicole. Unfortunately the only ones who have been smart enough to actually look up the street address of the temple are Tim & Marie.

Travis doesn't want to wait for a third taxi so they try to leave. But the taxi driver insists of waiting for a third taxi.

"They're so mad", Marie sums it up nicely "Not surprising that the plan to stick together kind of just disintegrated", Marie

Teams reach the clue box by the temple in the following order: 1. Leo & Jamal 2. Nicole & Travis 3. Tim & Marie 4. Jason & Amy, a second or so after #2

Detour: "Knock it down" or "Call it up"

In Knock it down teams make their way to Tokyo Media city and take part in a Japanese game show, human bowling. After dressing up they must alternate to slide down a slope and hit a bunch of giant bowling pins. Once they have hit a strike they will receive their next clue. Scoring a strike seems pretty hard to do.

In call it up teams must become immersed in a popular art installation. One team member must dive down into an obsolete phone boot, which has been converted to a goldfish tank, and make a phone call. They must then climb out of the water and run over to their partner and tell them that they heard ("Welcome to Tokyo, Wasabi taberu"). Teams will receive their next clue once their partner has relayed the correct phrase to the judge.

Tim & Marie and Jason & Amy decide to go for Knock it down, but their drivers don't know where it is and since the drivers refuse to separate they follow Travis & Nicole to Kinuta park, where the call it up detour takes place. Tim & Marie does not realize where they have arrived. And Travis & Nicole and Jason & Amy do their best to not tip them off. They go so far as to calmly walking in the direction of the challenge (in another part of the park) so as to not let Tim & Marie know that they know where they are going.

The ruse works and Tim & Marie decide to take off for the Knock it down detour. "I don't know where they are going", Tim is baffled "They don't know where they are going either, apparently we might", Marie has just received directions

"It is American love story", Game show host when he hears Tim & Marie have broken up "It's American horror story", Marie bites back

Leo & Jamal fold their protective clothes nicely when done in order to not tip off the other teams that they have already been here. This fools Tim & Marie.

Make your way to thefountain in Shinjuku ChuoKoen and search for yournext clue.

Just before they reach the fountain Leo & Jamal encounter their speed bump. In this speed bump they must take part in an exercise where staff from the local zoo practices catching an escaped rhino. There is a mock rhino (with two men inside) and a bunch of people in bright green vests with nets. "Believe it or not, this is a real drill", Phil explains the surreal task

Road block: "Pipe up or go home". In this road block teams must assemble something which looks like a robot. Their contraption is made out of big pipes and stands about 3 meters high. There is a model which shows what the final robot should look like. But the model is about 10 cm high, so it is a lot smaller than the real thing. Teams are not given any choice in who shall perform this task.

Nicole and Amy decide to work together.

"Leo, you can do it. Dumb and dumber is helping each other out", Jamal see Nicole & Amy

"Where is the thing I'm supposed to be looking at", Marie asks Amy and Nicole, who pretend not to hear her

Leo is kind and tells Marie what to look at. "Oh, this is ridiculous", Marie when she see the small model

"I never knew there was a team road block", Jamal is irritated that Amy and Nicole cooperates

The robots are unwieldy and everybody struggles with joining the pipes.

"For the most part I can pretty much copy and catch up", Initially Marie has it easy as she can look at the other teams "Don't look at her, it's gonna distract you", Nicole wants Amy to not look at Marie

This task is surprisingly intense. It might be because teams are neck and neck and all teams know that this is probably the last challenge before the pit stop and a spot in the final leg. The task is also harder than it looks. Not only is it surprisingly physical but there are also a number of subtle details which they have to get right.

Leo has for example one part on backwards, and it takes him a really long time to figure that one out. "Leo has the middle part on wrong", Amy see what Leos problem is, but doesn't say anything

Amy and Nicole has mistaken the hips for the shoulders and consequently need to disassemble and reassemble large parts of their robots once they realize what is wrong. Leo seem to see their problem immediately.

"Hey, just get that thing done", Travis is supportive as usual

Eventually Amy figure out what the problem is and she and Nicole start tearing down their robots. By the time Amy has put her together again Nicole has just managed to disassemble hers. Amy helps her a bit before moving on. "This is where it gets tricky man", Tim to Travis when Amy is ready and he wants to move on "You have to do what you have to do, I can't beg for help", Travis "This is the only thing I can help you with sweetheart", Amy to Nicole "We lost 7-10 minutes because you helped them", Jason to Amy

In the end it is a race between Leo, who hasn't figured out what is wrong with his, and Nicole. "You can't get things done", Travis to Nicole after she has completed the road block

"Damn you robot. You're what made us fall", Jamal talks to the model

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

The vending machine is painted in yellow and red and fairly easy to spot. It moves around a bit and then returns to one place where it stops and dispenses a clue. All teams get their clue at the same place. "Does anybody know where the roaming vending machine is" Marie asks the crowd when the machine is behind her back

Teams get the clue in the same order as they finished the road block.

Route info: "Make your way on foot to Konno Hachimangu shrine". the clue also points out that the last team to check in will be eliminated. This shrine may look familiar since it was used as a pit stop in season 15. The greeter is a human in a big robot suit. Teams reach him and Phil in the following order: 1(+0) Tim & Marie, win a trip to Aruba 2(+0) Jason & Amy 3(+0) Nicole & Travis 4(+0) Leo & Jamal, are eliminated

"I don't like you", Nicole to the robot

"So I'm really disappointed and really sad, but at the same time it was one of the best experiences I've had in my entire life", Leo "Amazing 'Crazy' Race", Jamal gets the title

The last pit stop was at the Konno Hachimangu shrine. Teams seem to be released from a park somewhere else in Tokyo. The are released in the following order:

1.

Tim & Marie

06:08

2.

Jason & Amy

06:15

(+0:07)

3.

Nicole & Travis

06:22

(+0:141)

Route info: "Fly to you final destination Juneau, Alaska". Once teams land they must make their way to Douglas Island harbor and take one of the marked boats to Grizzly bar, where they will find their next clue.

At the starting line we also learn that Marie made a contract with Tim stipulating that she will get 60% of all winnings.

Amy feels confident in their taxi to the airport. She feels that she has helped Travis & Nicole heavily in the last two legs. And without her help in this leg they will crumble.

"No more alliance with Jay & Amy, we had said we would work together until the final leg and in the final leg it's every team for themselves", Nicole

As flights are given for the last leg all teams end up on the same flights: DL156 NRT-SEA 15:24-08:12 (scheduled 15:30-08:15) AS75 SEA-JNU 11:21-12:39 (scheduled 11:20-12:50)

Note that since this flight crosses the international date-line fromwest to east they land "before" they started.

It turns out to be raining in Juneau, and it keeps raining for most of this leg. But teams doesn't care as they all run around desperately trying to get a taxi at the airport. They eventually find taxis and arrive at the harbor in the following order:

After the harbor there is an exhilarating speedboat trip out to the Grizzly bar. The trip looks fast and exciting, but teams do not change positions. At the Grizzly bar teams jump ashore and run to the next clue box.

Road block: "Flour power". In this road block contestants must simulate an air supply drop. They will be flown in a bush plane at 60mph at 150ft above ground. Here they must drop a bag of flour and hit a target on the ground. The target seems to be about 5m in diameter. There is a wind sock next to the target which lets the players judge the wind speed and direction.

This task is actually quite hard, even though there seems to be no wind. It is also uncomfortable for those waiting on the ground since there are lots of winged critters trying to suck their blood. It is kind of funny to see them there waving their arms around while expressing their frustration over their partners inability to hit the target.

"Oh well, it's just for a million dollars. Sometimes, not being very successful is a hard thing to swallow", Travis is feeling down when the other teams have left

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+1)

Jason & Amy*

(6-7)

On her 2nd attempt

2(+1)

Tim & Marie*

(6-7)

On her 12th attempt

3(-2)

Nicole* & Travis

(7-6)

On her 21st attempt

The next clue is a route info which directs teams into the nearby helicopters for a trip to the Norris glacier where they will take part in an Alaskan ice expedition. When they land they must choose a guide and follow him on a trek on the glacier. Along they way they will have to descend into a crevasse, cross it on a ladder and then use ice picks to climb up the ice wall on the other side. They will also go though a gorgeous looking ice-tunnel.

By the end of the trek they will come to an ice wall where several clues are frozen into the ice. They must hack away until they find a real clue.

"This is absolutely breath taking", Amy during the helicopter ride "[i[Oh, we're going across that thing?[/i]", Amy see the crevasse and look a bit scared

Jason & Amy have a sizable lead at this point. Travis & Nicole lands at the glacier just as Marie is about to climb out of the crevasse, so they are quite a bit behind.

Crossing the crevice is hard work and time consuming. But the only person having any real problems is Nicole who drops one of the ice picks. She therefore has to do her climb out with only one ice pick. "I wanted to cry", Nicole experienced a low point here

There are no placement changes during this task since the teams were fairly spread out to begin with. The final clue in the ice has a silhouette of a two-person kayak and reads:

Quote

This is your next mode of transportation.Find me at the lake's edge and make your wayto the marked island to find your next clue.

The kayak is easy to find just around the corner and the destination island is well marked with flags, so there are no navigational issues. The distance they have to paddle is fairly long though, so the task is tiring. It is even more tiring to hear the constant bickering between Tim & Marie.

There seems to be taxis waiting fairly close to the landing site i Juneau, so teams are quickly on their way. "You speak English?", Jason still checks the taxi drivers "All my life", And the driver has a great response

Here teams encounter a memory task. They need to remember the names of the different currencies they encountered through the race. They have to do this in order to correctly assemble a set of 9 giant totem poles which will spell out the currencies. They are given pieces of totem poles with letters, fragments of letters and other paintings on them. So this is in fact just a giant puzzle. The currencies are: Peso Euro Krone Zloty Euro Dirham Rupiah Yen Dollar

The totem poles are about 5m high each. There are steel rods which serve as the center of each pole so all they have to do is to fit the pieces and slide them upwards. The task is quite physical and time consuming since there are many big pieces which need to be lifted.

"I took a million and three notes, but I don't have the currency names", Amy

After Jason & Amy have been at it for a while Tim & Marie turns up, and a while later Travis & Nicole. So for a while we have all three teams working the puzzle simultaneously.

The task is time consuming but does not seem to be particularly hard. All teams seem to be able to figure out the currencies and the correct order. There was a fairly large distance between the teams going into this challenge, and this is largely unchanged as they complete it. By the time Jason & Amy are done with their 9 poles Tim & Marie seem to have completed two of theirs.

Travis & Nicole do not work well together at all. In fact it seems as if Travis is doing most of the work. "Come on, you've got to help me, I'm doing it for myself for St George", Travis feel alone

In the end teams complete this task in the following order: 1(+0) Jason & Amy 2(+0) Tim & Marie 3(+0) Nicole & Travis

Quote

ROUTE INFO

At last: The Finish Line!

Make your way to theend of North DouglasHighway and look for themarked drive.

Go! Go! Go!

No taxis get lost on the way to the finish line, and Jason & Amy avoid having hearth attacks so teams reach the finish line in the following order: 1(+0) Jason & Amy, win $1,000,000 2(+0) Tim & Marie 3(+0) Nicole & Travis

"4 continents, 9 countries, more than 35,000 miles", Phil "We didn't come in second place", Amy is glad they broke their streak